Inspiring Better Cities

Next City is a nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire social, economic and environmental change in cities by creating media and events around the world.

Our vision is for a world in which cities are not in crisis and are instead, leading the way towards a more sustainable, equitable future.

Next City provides daily online coverage of the leaders, policies and innovations driving progress in metropolitan regions across the world. In an age when original, on-the-ground reporting is increasingly rare, we send our writers into urban communities around the world to produce our award-winning longform content. In addition to our online journalism, we produce events including an annual urban leadership conference, Vanguard.

Originally named The Next American City, the organization began publishing a quarterly magazine in 2003. What started as a black-and-white printed publication staffed by volunteers ultimately grew into a popular and influential magazine that reached 1 million people over the course of its 31 issues.

Our Staff

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President, CEO & Publisher

Tom is the President, CEO and Publisher of Next City. Before joining the organization in 2015, he directed the Center for Resilient Design at the College of Architecture and Design at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he ran the Regional Plan Association’s New Jersey office, and served as a senior adviser on land use for two New Jersey governors. Tom is a licensed professional planner, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, as well as an adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he teaches land use planning and infrastructure planning.

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Editor-in-Chief

Ariella Cohen is an award-winning journalist with 11 years of experience reporting on urban change, politics and policy. Prior to joining Next City, she co-founded New Orleans’ first online investigative news outlet, The Lens, and worked as a staff reporter for the Brooklyn Paper in New York. She has reported on community resiliency in Haiti, toxic FEMA trailers on the Gulf coast and affordable housing in Brooklyn. She prefers the bus. Follow her @ariellacohen on Twitter.

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Executive Editor

From infrastructure to economic development to culture, Janine oversees Next City’s Daily content. Her experience includes gigs at an alternative medicine book publisher, an A&E weekly, and a daily newspaper. Most recently, she served as exec editor and online news editor at Philadelphia magazine, where she covered everything from elections to the city budget to real estate.

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Audience Engagement Manager

Before joining Next City, Jeff was the Communications Director for Healthcare-NOW!, a carpenter, and a community member of Leavenhouse (a Catholic Worker community that provides food and housing for the homeless) in Camden, NJ. He has a B.A. in Urban Studies and Regional Planning from Rutgers University-Camden and a M.A. in Regional, Economic, and Social Development from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

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Equitable Cities Fellow

Alexis is Next City’s urban economics fellow. She’s written about housing, pop culture, global music subcultures, and more for publications like Rolling Stone, SPIN, Shelterforce and MTV Iggy. She has a B.A. in Urban Studies from Barnard College and a M.S. in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Creative Director

Tony has designed books and other projects for clients such as Thames and Hudson, Powerhouse, Steve Powers, the Pew Foundation, Deloitte and Federal Express. In 2005, he and Dan Murphy founded the experimental media project Megawords and were awarded the Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2012.

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Events + Development Manager

Sara is a marketing and events mastermind with more than ten years of experience supporting small businesses, artists and nonprofits. She has worked with artists to donate tooth-related artwork for a dental surgery fundraiser, planned a flash mob for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival and raised money for children orphaned by the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

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Special Assistant

Jessica joined Next City in July 2014. She has worked on marketing and events for a variety of nonprofits in the areas of conservation, youth empowerment, political engagement, and LGBT rights. She has a B.S. in Liberal Studies with concentrations in Public Management and Peace & Conflict Studies from West Chester University.